Lee Byung-hun Breaks Down His Career, from 'Mr. Sunshine' to 'Squid Game'

When I was acting that scene,

I tried to feel all those characters at one time.

So it was very complicated,

but at the same time, very unique.

[bright orchestral music plays]

Hi, I am Lee Byung Hun.

This is the timeline of my career.

[soldier speaks Korean]

[Byung Hun] When I was 20 years old,

my mom's friend asked me

to do the audition for some broadcasting system.

And I didn't ever thought about being an actor before,

but I just tried it, you know, as a joke.

And I didn't think this is gonna be my forever job.

I just thought it could be just an experience.

But I've been doing that for 35 years already.

[guns rattling]

Before JSA, director Park and I

both had many box office flops.

When my second movie flopped,

I was at the theater

seeing the third movie's test screening room.

The assistant director asked me to come out,

because somebody is waiting for me.

And there was a guy with the ponytail hair

and weird-looking jacket,

and he said he's Park Chan-wook

and he was waiting for me with the script.

And I instantly thought,

I'm not gonna work with him

without reading the script.

But, yeah, I didn't participate in that project.

And then, after a few years,

he sent me another.

That was JSA.

And the script was perfect.

I was worried about, you know, he flopped two movies already

and I flopped four movies already.

And it was a perfect combination.

But I still wanted to do it

because the script was so fun.

[soldiers speaking Korean]

[Byung Hun speaks Korean]

[somber orchestral music plays]

[Byung Hun speaks Korean]

[rain hisses]

[man speaks Korean]

A Bittersweet Life is an action noir film,

but also very philosophical and artistic.

It was my first time to work with director Kim Jee-woon.

This film led to my first invitation

to the Cannes Film Festival.

This is one of my favorite films,

and opened door to Hollywood projects.

[man speaks Korean]

[upbeat music plays]

[people shouting]

[fists smacking]

[gun firing]

[Byung Hun speaks Korean]

[ominous music plays]

[train rumbles]

[Byung Hun] The title is a spin

on The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly by Sergio Leone

and Clint Eastwood,

which many people called a Spaghetti Western.

Because our film was a Korean film,

people called it a kimchi western.

[gunshots firing]

My father was a huge fan of Western film.

Of course, I watched The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

maybe a few times with him.

He first brought me to the theater

when I was four years old.

My father always explained about the actors

and about the movies.

That's how I fall in love with the theater,

that space, and the movies.

He was just a businessman.

But I imagined his dream was

one of the part of the movie industry, I think.

[rain hissing]

[people speaking Korean]

[Byung Hun speaks Korean]

[cannons blasting]

[frantic music plays]

[Byung Hun] Almost all the actors

perform their own horse riding and action scenes,

in very rough conditions.

[Byung Hun speaks Korean]

[Byung Hun] When our master was killed,

you took a vow of silence.

Now you will die without a word.

G.I. Joe was my first opportunity to work in Hollywood.

At the time, I feel like I'm swimming

in the middle of the sea without knowing the direction,

because I was the first Korean actor

participating in Hollywood projects,

so there was no one to follow.

Why defend yourself to man too blind to see?

That is the inaud master's blood.

But that is not mine.

Wait!

My sword.

It was so fun to work with Jon.

He's got a lot of ideas, and I also made some ideas,

and I tried to put some emotions

on this character and he agreed with that.

[melancholy music plays]

The original ending was different from what it is now.

While filming, I had many discussions

with the director Kim Jee-woon,

and we decided to change the ending.

Many people really liked the ending

because it looks as if I could be laughing,

but the emotion at the end

wasn't satisfaction from revenge or finishing the job.

It was a deep emptiness, a painful feeling

of loss and despair.

[Byung Hun speaks Korean]

[lights buzz]

[man speaks Korean]

[ominous music plays]

[Byung Hun] The film was so intense

that at first, it couldn't even get a rating,

nearly stopping its release.

After several edits, it was finally approved

for adults only.

The story is very depressing.

While we were shooting and even after few months,

director Kim Jee-woon and I both were depressed.

We were influenced by that mood and emotions and the vibe.

So, it was a mentally very hard project.

This movie combines history and fiction.

It imagines what happened

during the few days King Gwanghae disappeared

from the official records.

I played a character impersonating the king.

Masquerade became the most watched film of my career.

[people speaking Korean]

[somber music plays]

[man laughs]

[Byung Hun speaks Korean]

[dramatic music plays]

You inaud drive this ridiculous thing.

You inaud?

I found out about Red Two

while I was shooting GI Joe in New Orleans.

One day, I heard somebody knocked on my trailer,

so I opened the door,

and Bruce Willis was standing there,

and he was bowing like, Korean way,

and I was so surprised by that.

Every day in the morning, he came to my trailer

and say hi, like Korean way.

Anyways, we became very good friends.

I had a really good relationship with Bruce Willis,

and I really appreciate it.

[man shouts]

[fists thudding]

[Byung Hun speaks Korean]

I don't speak Korean!

In the film, there's a picture of Han and his father.

While shooting, Dean Parisot would ask me

for a picture of me and my dad to use in the film.

My dad was a huge fan of Hollywood films,

and during the premier, I sat next to Dean.

While watching the ending credits,

I was so surprised to see my dad's name in the credits.

My dad had made his debut in a Hollywood film.

[somber music plays]

Mr. Sunshine is a show set around the early 1900s,

just before the Japanese occupation.

Many countries were trying to occupy Korea at the time,

so it was full of mixed cultures.

There were people wearing Western fashion,

Japanese people dressed in Japanese fashion,

and people of Choseon wearing traditional Korean clothing.

My character Eugene Choi was born a slave,

but escaped to the US and lived there as an American,

but he never truly belonged there,

and Korea became a place he resented.

That contrast made the role interesting.

It was one of Netflix's early Korean dramas

and gained many international fans.

After the show aired,

I can remember a lot of people recognizing me

more in US.

[ominous music plays]

[Byung Hun] It was hard part,

but at the same time it was very interesting for me.

I needed to act three different roles: as a front man,

as someone acting in front of the players,

and original Inho, before he experienced the Squid Game.

I had a lot of fun doing that.

When I was acting that scene,

I tried to feel all those characters at one time,

so it was very complicated,

but at the same time, very unique.

[man shouting in Korean]

[Byung Hun speaks Korean]

[man speaks Korean]

[plant pots thumping]

[Byung Hun] In No Other Choice,

Director Park and I reunite after 20 years to make a film.

The film asks whether the systems that were built

to make people's lives better actually bring happiness.

The system could mean capitalism other structures.

My character, Man-soo, is a victim of a system built

to make things better,

but ironically uses it to destroy his rivals, one by one.

That contradiction makes the film fascinating to watch.

This is one of the film that I'm most proud of.

[Byung Hun speaks Korean]

He wants to say something.

I heard the saying in America for being fired

you say you got axed.

Sorry, there's no other choice.

Do you know what we say in Korea?

[Byung Hun speaks Korean]

[person speaking Korean]

[Byung Hun speaks Korean]

♪ Reach out to me ♪

♪ For satisfaction ♪

♪ Lookie here, baby ♪

[Byung Hun speaks Korean]

[jaunty music plays]

[Byung Hun speaks Korean]

[upbeat music plays]

[Byung Hun speaks Korean]